MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A local election clerk failed to realize that Wisconsin's new legislative maps moved a rural town into a new district, leading to an administrative error that could disenfranchise scores of voters in a Republican state Assembly primary race.
The new maps shifted Summit, a town of about 1,000 people in Douglas County in far northern Wisconsin, out of the 73rd Assembly District and into the 74th District. But voters in Summit received ballots for the primary in the 73rd rather than the primary in the 74th, city clerk Kaci Jo Lundgren said in a news release issued Tuesday afternoon.
Democrat Angela Stroud defeated John Adams in the primary in the 73rd. Incumbent Chanz Green and former prison guard Scott Harbridge squared off in Tuesday's primary for the GOP nomination in the 74th District.
The incorrect ballots mean votes in the 73rd primary cast in Summit likely won’t count under state law, Lundgren said. What’s more, no one in Summit could vote for Green or Harbridge in the 74th.
The Associated Press has not called a winner in the 74th District race while it determines if the outcome of the race could be challenged because of the voters who were disenfranchised. As of 11:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Green led by nearly 1,000 votes.
In the news release, Lundgren said about 700 residents of Summit are registered voters.
Lundgren, who oversees elections in Douglas County, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that she reviewed the new legislative boundaries many times but somehow missed that Summit is now in the 74th District.
“It was human error,” she said. “It was a mistake. I made that mistake. ... It was an oversight in one municipality.”
Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe said during a news conference Tuesday afternoon that state law doesn't address such a situation.
“I don't know what the remedies could look like,” Wolfe said. “I'm not aware of something happening quite like this, for any precedent in this situation.”
Wolfe said Summit voters who cast ballots in the 73rd primary didn’t commit fraud since they were given official ballots. Votes cast in other races on the Summit ballot, including ballot questions on whether the state should adopt two constitutional amendments restricting the governor's authority to spend federal aid, will still count, she said.
The liberal-leaning state Supreme Court threw out Republican-drawn legislative boundaries in 2023. GOP lawmakers in February adopted new maps that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers drew rather than allowing the liberal court to craft districts that might be even worse for them. Tuesday’s primary marks the first election with the new boundaries in play.
Confusion surrounding those new maps appeared to be limited to Summit. The state elections commission hadn’t heard of similar oversights anywhere else in the state, Wolfe said.
Matt Fisher, a spokesperson for the state Republican Party, had no immediate comment. No one immediately responded to an email the AP sent to Green's campaign.
Harbridge told The AP in a telephone interview that the mistake shouldn't matter unless the race between him and Green is close. He has already consulted with some attorneys, but he lacks the money to contest the results in court, he said.
“I'm not happy at all about it,” he said of the mistake. “I don't understand how this could happen.”
FILE - A man walks by the Wisconsin state Capitol, Oct. 10, 2012, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer, File)
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Shaken by multiple militant attacks, Pakistani authorities have locked down the capital in a major security move as senior officials from several nations arrive for an Asian security group meeting.
A three-day holiday started Monday in normally bustling Islamabad and the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi, and Pakistan has deployed troops and blocked key roads, making it difficult even for ambulances to pass through. Some doctors asked police to remove barricades so that they could go to hospitals, but were instead asked to take longer routes.
The main event of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will be held Wednesday, when leaders and officials discuss how to boost their security cooperation and economic ties. The group was founded in 2001 by China and Russia to counter Western alliances. Other members include Iran, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Militants in recent weeks have killed dozens of people in multiple attacks in restive northwestern and southwestern Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. Security experts say militants have limited capacity to strike in Islamabad.
Pakistan often blames the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, who have sanctuaries in neighboring Afghanistan, for the violence. Afghanistan’s Taliban government says it does not allow anyone to use its soil for attacks against any country.
Two Chinese engineers were killed on Oct. 6 in a suicide bombing outside the airport in Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province. The attack was claimed by a separatist group.
In the past, ordinary Pakistanis used to line up on both sides of the main roads to welcome any dignitaries visiting the country, but authorities said they had to take harsh security measures because of fears of militant attacks. Only state media will be allowed to cover the meetings.
Among those attending were China’s Premier Li Qiang, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref and the prime ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Mongolia.
In this photo released by the Press Information Department, China's Premier Li Qiang, left, walks Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, second left, upon his arrival at an airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)
In this photo released by the Press Information Department, China's Premier Li Qiang, right, greets Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, upon his arrival at an airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)
In this photo released by the Press Information Department, China's Premier Li Qiang, left, walks Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, upon his arrival at an airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)
A paramilitary soldier stands guard at a barricaded road leading to Presidency, in background, and to the venue of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
An army vehicle moves past a welcoming billboard with portraits of China's Premier Li Qiang, center, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari, displayed along a road leading to the venue of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
In this photo released by the Press Information Department, visiting China's Premier Li Qiang reviews the guard of honor during a welcome ceremony, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)
In this photo released by the Press Information Department, China's Premier Li Qiang, third left, walks Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, third right, upon his arrival at an airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)
In this photo released by the Press Information Department, visiting China's Premier Li Qiang, left, and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attend a attends a welcome ceremony, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Press Information Department via AP)
